Category: vintage

Historical Perspective – The Original “Bond” Rolex Submariner, The Reference 6538 “Big Crown”

After having a look at the “Pre-Submariner”, the Rolex Reference 6202, as well as at the mother of all Submariners, the early Reference 6204, it is time for our “columnist extraordinaire” Paul Altieri (Founder and CEO of Bob’s Watches) to look at a watch that helped building the legend surrounding this model, mainly because it was worn by a certain British spy, in a movie called Dr. No. You certainly guessed it: today we look at the “Bond” Rolex Submariner, The Reference 6538.

7 years ago

Historical Perspective – The Very First Rolex Submariner, The Reference 6204

Today, we continue our Historical Perspective series, thanks to our “columnist extraordinaire” Paul Altieri (Founder and CEO of Bob’s Watches). In the first part, we explored a missing link in the history of diving watches, as we looked at the pre-Submariner watches, known under the reference 6202 “Turn-O-Graph”. Today, however, is the real deal, with the more-than-iconic reference 6204, the mother of all Rolex Submariner watches, the very first one born in 1953.

7 years ago

Historical Perspective – The Missing Link, The Rolex Reference 6202 or the “Pre-Submariner”

The Rolex Submariner is, undoubtedly, the most emblematic dive watch ever created, in addition to being amongst the most legendary watches ever shaped. Presented more than 60 years ago, in 1953, it was part of the very first timekeeping instruments to be conceived for a new generation of pioneers; divers. During its over six decades’ career, the Submariner has both drastically evolved on the technical side, but remained visually true to its origins. Thanks to our “columnist extraordinaire” Paul Altieri (Founder and CEO of Bob’s Watches), we are going to take a look at some of the most important Rolex Submariner’s references, starting today with… a Turn-O-Graph, the reference 6202 that we’d call “the missing link”.

7 years ago

Glashütte Original Sixties – Comparing the Old and the New

For this story we have to travel back in time to 2007, when the German watch manufacture Glashütte-Original introduced a new model that was heavily inspired on a vintage model. It was more of a modern version of a vintage timepiece that was made during the GDR period (from 1949 to 1990 the eastern part of …

7 years ago

FOUND: What COULD Be A Never-Seen-Before Rolex Rattrapante Pocket Watch?

Here is the story: Dr. Crott Auctioneers is about to auction what COULD be (and that “could” is extremely important to keep in mind…) a Rolex Rattrapante Pocket Watch. This combination Rolex / Rattrapante / Pocket Watch is, considering the immense literature about Rolex, something never seen before. So what do we have here? Potentially one of the rarest and most important Rolex watches ever? A superb example of limited (maybe unique) production by the Crown? Or an example of re-encasing work done by one of those vintage magicians? What is certain though, is that we are facing a highly interesting mystery (found thanks to watch journalist Gregory Pons).

8 years ago

Pre-SIHH 2017: New Panerai Radiomir Special Edition

Panerai has always been a brand with a very focused history. As the prime supplier to the Italian Navy, they created bold watches, which often accompanied divers on dangerous missions. For SIHH 2017 Panerai has announced two special editions

8 years ago

Review – Citizen Aqualand Promaster, The Blue Collar Dive Watch from Japan

When we refer to Japan and its watch industry everyone, and rightly so, instantly think of one company: Seiko. However, there is more than that. Although Seiko has produced a large number of excellent, iconic and historical timepieces, it is unfair to forget other companies like Citizen. In this article we are going to examine one of the most iconic dive watches coming from Japan of all time. No, it is not the Tuna Marinemaster or the Seiko 6105, but the iconic Citizen Aqualand Promaster.

8 years ago

Tudor and its Heritage – The 1970s Chronographs and the Tudor Heritage Chrono

As we’ve seen in our two first episodes of “Tudor and its Heritage“, the brand did an important move into sports watches in the middle of the 1950s, starting with the Submariners, followed by the Ranger. These vintage pieces led to the creation of two current watches, the Heritage Black Bay and the Heritage Ranger, two pieces paying tribute to the rich past of Tudor Watches. However, there’s a another type of watches that we didn’t explore yet, and in this field, Tudor has been very active: chronographs. Today, we are going to look at how, starting in 1970, the brand created some highly iconic and bold chronographs, which later inspired the super-cool Tudor Heritage Chrono.

8 years ago

5 Cool Finds – Our Picks from the 94th Auction at Crott Auctioneers (Including hyper-exclusive Lange and vintage chronographs from Rolex, Omega & Heuer)

Today, we’re back with our traditional “5 Cool Finds”, however in a slightly different formula. No worries, the deal is still the same: 5 watches that we pick for you and that deserve your interest. What is different today is that we look at an auction, the 94th watch auction from Crott Auctioneers, a German auction house with great reputation. The sale, which will occur on November 12th, 2016, features no less than 673 lots but, then again, no worries, we’re here to help you and we found 5 watches that are properly cool: 2 rare and superb modern A. Lange & Söhne and 3 vintage chronographs that couldn’t be more iconic.

8 years ago